Republic of Arnelia (The Traveler)
The Second Republic of Arnelia or simply the Republic of Arnelia is a fictional country that exists in The Traveler video game series. It's predecessor state, which was called the First Republic of Arnelia was once a peaceful and prosperous country that now turned into a country that are being devastated by bloody conflicts between the Liberation Army and the Umbrella, both of whom fight against each other for the control over the nation. It is also the place where The Traveler takes place. Prior to the events of the Second Arnelian Civil War In 15th May, 2022, the Umbrella began testing nuclear ballistic missiles and launched many onto the sea nearby the western parts of Arnelia, leading the government of the New Republic to call for international sanctions on the rogue state controlled by Umbrella. This resulted in a third of the countries that recognized the rogue state as an independent nations to withdraw their recognition and severed diplomatic ties as well as stopped trading with them. In response, the leader and top members of Umbrella threatened to invade the West if they didn't cease the embargoes. Although many civilians had called for the government to cease these sanctions, the government continued to do so. 3 months prior to the invasion led by the rogue state, around 1.5 million Arnelian civilians marched into the capital city of Arnelia to protest but were subsequently ousted by the outnumbering Arnelian police forces when it became a bit violent. As time went by, more and more countries had stopped to trade with Umbrella when the missile test continued. Second Arnelian Civil War The leader then declared war on Arnelia on 22nd June, 2023 and first attacked and captured the city of Yankton with ease due to the lack of military presence there. The advance was rapid and the Umbrella forces managed to occupy four Arnelian cities. Their advance was then halted when many powerful defenses had been built by Arnelian military near the border of Umbrella's captured territories, making any further invasion almost impractical and extremely difficult and it was estimated that almost 20,000 Umbrella soldiers were seriously wounded or injured while trying to attack Arnelian territories and around 20% of the Umbrella soldiers were actually highly-trained, which weakened the Umbrella forces. Government and society The new government of Arnelia is a representative democracy. Every 5 years, the head of the state, or the President, are elected by Arnelian citizens through voting. The candidate that has gained the most votes will win the election become the new President of Arnelia and will run the office for 5 years. After ruling the country for 5 years, they will be replaced by the new President who has win the election. They could also choose to run for another presidential term and after the second term, they would not be able to run for another term. The de facto government of Arnelia grants the population an extensive civil and political rights. Citizens are allowed to talk about their own opinions about the government. They could also criticize or insult the government as well as protesting on the street. Citizens are allowed to take part in voting as mentioned before, but anyone who has mental illness are barred from taking part in election. Nevertheless, the Arnelian population are both socially and politically liberal. On the other hand, the population of eastern side of Arnelia are ruled by decisively far-right authoritarian 'rogue' government, the Umbrella Nationalist Party. Although the eastern territories of Arnelia function like an autonomous country, they do not have a real government as they are unable to gain recognition from many countries. The population under Umbrella's rule are subjected to brainwashing through propaganda. They have far fewer civil and political rights and speaking out against or criticize the government can land one individual in jail. They are also barred from leaving the Umbrella's territory and all of the borders are closed and militarized. However, the population are still socially and economically stable and they still functions like a "real" country despite foreign sanctions and embargoes prior to the second Arnelian Civil War. Economy A long time earlier prior to the events of The Traveler, the economy of Arnelia was impressive with the population earning a average income of 37,500 Kusos. The currency of Kusos was once very valuable, with one Kusos equaling to one dollar. Several years before the bloody conflict started in Arnelia, the economy collapsed, resulting in many population starving. The economy couldn't recover and the government were in huge debt, hence they printed a lot of money to pay it off, which devalued the country's currency at a surprisingly vast rate. Two factions rose to power and both quickly replaced the former government of Arnelia. However, both factions could not unite the country together due to difference in political ideologies with the LA army embracing liberal democracy whereas the Umbrella are decisively authoritarian, hence, the economy of Arnelia are controlled by both factions. Despite the split, the government of Arnelia are being replaced by the authorities of the Liberation Army because they gained recognition from many countries outside of Arnelia as well as having the control of the capital city, hence the LA army are belonged to the new government of Arnelia while the territories that are under the control of Umbrella are considered as rogue state by many foreign nations. Under the new Arnelian government, they somehow got the economy back on track and it managed to grow dramatically despite the country still in the state of civil war between Umbrella and LA. On the other hand, the economy under the control of Umbrella in their territories are also quite good but not really close to the one being controlled by the de facto government of Arnelia as they have only established diplomatic ties and traded with fewer countries. Again, both factions controlling Arnelian economy managed to escape financial crisis during a bloody civil war as they had many cities in their territories being highly guarded by military forces, allowing trade and business to continue to flourish without being affected. However, after the events of The Traveler, it is stated that the economy of Arnelia has been completely taken over by the new government that controls LA army after the entire country has been reunified under the new government with the Umbrella being entirely annihilated. Military Liberation Army of Arnelia -More contents will be added in the future- Trivia * The game developer confirmed in a interview that the territory of Arnelia is geographically based off mainland France while the territory that was controlled by Umbrella was based off the territories of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. This is interesting due to the fact that Arnelia's capital city are also coincidentally named Paris which is based off a real city. ** However, despite being geographically based off mainland France, the official language of Arnelia is English.